The Unknown Past of Rohan
by AngelClaws
Summary: Aragorn and Legolas find themselves on yet another adventure and discover an incredulous secret of the past of Rohan.
1. Chapter 1

**The Unknown Past of Rohan**

Disclaimer- I do not own anything LOTR!!..except a Two Towers vhs :-P

Chapter 1

The rugged-looking man crept quietly through the dark, moonlit forest with his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to attack if need be.  
He stopped and listened but only heard the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves of the tall trees.

He took a few more steps and looked around. Suddenly he saw a figure in a black cloak with the hood covering its face in the dark shadows of the tree next to him.

He quickly drew his sword, pointing it menacingly at the figure. The mysterious figure immediately drew a long elegant sword and leapt forward beginning the fight.  
Each of them jabbed at their opponent and dodged the swords with great ease.

Then the figure spoke with a sly tone, "Why have you threatened me?"

As it asked this, an arrow whizzed down piercing its left arm near its shoulder.

The man gave a small gasp as the figure's hood dropped revealing a beautiful fair-skinned lady wearing a white dress under her black silk cloak.  
She had deep brown eyes and medium length brown hair. She winced as the arrow hit her, but she continued to fight.

Soon they both had their swords at each other's necks and they both paused.  
The lady sheathed her sword and looked at him for a moment with a mysterious glint in her eyes as the cold metal of his sword ran against her throat.

"Are you going to kill me now?"

He looked at her questioningly and a few moments of silence passed before a tall elf clad in green jumped out of the tree, landing next to him.

The lady examined her arm and carefully removed the arrow, she looked at the elf sadly and spoke in elvish, though she was obviously not an elf, "Mellon, Friend"

She looked at both the men and spoke in a strong, yet gentle voice, "I am sorry if I frightened you but I meant you no harm…My name is Cassandra but you can call me Cassy."

She slowly drew her sword again, holding the handle towards the elf.  
"I am also a friend of the elves," she spoke as he examined the sword with beautiful elvish markings along the silver-laced blade.

The sword at her neck was sheathed and the man spoke, "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Forgive me m'lady for I did not know."

The lady gave a soft smile, "All is forgiven m'lord, for one can not be too careful these days."

The elf looked at Cassy's arm as he handed the sword back to her, "I am Legolas, are you alright?"  
Cassy lifted her hand away from the wound, the blood dripping down her sleeve as she looked at it and winced slightly. "I will be fine, it's not that deep and I am used to wounds like this by now."

As she said this two horses could be heard in the distance. The three became very silent as they listened.  
They heard a far off voice call out, "Cassy! Where are you?"

Cassy smiled and replied, "I am over here!"  
She looked at the alert faces of the two men in front of her, "It is alright, it is a friend."

Soon a figure emerged from the leaves, there stood an elven lady with long brown hair and hazel eyes riding a black horse and leading a pure white horse behind her.  
Legolas smiled as the lady dismounted her horse for the Mirkwood prince knew that face all to well.  
The elven lady smiled and jumped into his arms when she saw him, "Legolas! I am so glad to see you!"

He smiled at her, he had met her in Mirkwood and they had spent many happy times together at the palace, "As am I to see you."

He gestured toward Aragorn, "I would like you to meet my friend Aragorn."  
The elven lady studied Aragorn's face for a moment and smiled, "I am glad to meet you Dúnedain, my name is Elizabeth."

She then looked at her friend, "Cassy! What happened?"

Cassy winced as her friend tied a bandage tightly around her wound, "We just had a little incident."

Legolas blushed, "Sorry."

Aragorn looked at the two horses, "Are you going away somewhere?"

"Oh, no, we are simply on our way back toward Rivendell after a day outside the walls of the city," Cassy said as she walked over and patted the horses. "You are welcome to come with us, if that is where you are headed."

He nodded, "It is, and we will gladly welcome the company."

Elizabeth smiled, "As will we, though Rivendell is but a few miles from here."

Cassy looked at Aragorn and Legolas, "Choose a horse to ride, Elizabeth and I shall walk alongside."

Aragorn was amazed by the horses, they looked as if they belonged to royalty, "Where did you get these horses from?"  
He walked over and mounted the white horse, his favorite of the two. As Aragorn mounted the horse it became a little spooked.

Cassy whispered to the horse and stroked its muzzle to calm the horse down, "This is Angel. I found her on the side of the road about a month ago, but I think she is the one who found me. I have taken care of her ever since and she doesn't let anyone ride her except me, unless I tell her otherwise. She is a good horse."

Legolas looked at the other horse and smiled. This was the horse he had given to Elizabeth as a gift. The horse's name was Shadow of Death, but Elizabeth had nicknamed it Shin.

He was about to mount the horse when he stopped and thought, "Cassy, you are hurt, you should ride."

Cassy looked at Legolas with a smirk, "My arm is hurt, not my legs, I will walk."

Aragorn grinned at Cassy's response as Legolas mounted the black horse and they started on their way.

Aragorn silently watched Cassy as she walked next to the white horse, there was something about her but he couldn't quite place it. His elven wife, Arwen had been killed by orcs about one and a half years ago, yet Cassy's presence made him think of even happier times.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

They had gone quite a ways and they could see the beginnings of the ford to Rivendell. Elizabeth and Legolas were laughing and talking, their smooth voices flowing with the soft wind while Cassy and Aragorn walked silently a little ways behind.

Aragorn looked at Cassy, "Cassy, what did you mean before when you said that you were used to wounds like this?"  
Elizabeth stopped short when her elven ears heard this question and she turned around watching Cassy carefully, wondering what she would say or do, for she too had only known Cassy for little for than a month and Cassy had never really mentioned anything about her past. Legolas also stopped and now all eyes were on Cassy.

Cassy looked at each of their questioning faces, her eyes no longer twinkling with happiness and was silent for a moment, "It is getting late, let us continue."  
She walked past Legolas and Elizabeth, hurrying along the path.

Aragorn watched for a moment and then went after her, the two elves following a moment later. Aragorn rode up next to Cassy and saw remembrance of great pain and suffering in her eyes. "You carry a great burden in your heart." She gazed up at his face, the twinkle coming back to her eyes, "You are a noble man King Elessar. I will tell my story when the time comes."

He smiled kindly, "So, you know my identity."

'As anyone should.'

"May I ask how?"

'Many stories of great people and things are told in Rivendell.'

"Of this I am glad to hear, I myself remember listening to the great tales told in the great home of Elrond."

The two smiled at each other. Elizabeth felt herself smile, glad to see her friend in a better mood.

The group soon reached the side of the ford and Cassy stopped, "I have come with you this far, but I shall not cross the ford tonight, for I am but a lost child and do not belong to this city. Elizabeth sighed, "Cassy, I wish you would come with us, your arm is hurt." Cassy shook her head, "Even now, I will not come, though it pains me to see you go."

Aragorn dismounted, "Then let me stay with you and keep you company."

'Do as you wish, I do not care to control what you do."

Elizabeth mounted her horse, riding behind Legolas, "Farewell till morning then." and they crossed the ford and headed into the city.

Legolas couldn't help but wonder about the last thing Cassy had said and what she had meant by it.

Cassy turned and walked into the forest leading Angel behind her while Aragorn followed, "Where are we going?" She was quiet for a moment as if in deep thought but then smiled mysteriously, "You'll see." She climbed up onto Angel, "Come on, it'll be faster to ride."  
He climbed up behind her and gasped, they were going really fast, he couldn't remember a horse ever going quite this fast besides Shadowfax.

Then they suddenly slowed and the ride came to an end and Aragorn looked around. He was surprised, there in the clearing was firewood, some blankets, some food and few other necessities."How long have you been here?"  
She sat down and started the fire, "Nearly eighteen days." Cassy blushed for the first time at the presence of the king, "This is all that I have, do what you can to make yourself comfortable." He smiled a comforting smile, "Thank you."

While Aragorn and Cassy were sitting and eating, Legolas and Elizabeth had entered Rivendell and were at the former house of Elrond.  
Legolas sighed, "This place was magnificent before Elrond left."

'Yes, it was and it has been changed as little as possible.'

"It is still wonderful here."

They were inside the house walking around and exploring the massive hallways. Soon Elizabeth looked at Legolas, "Pardon me m'lord but I must go. Feel free to roam about and help yourself to whatever you need."

'Thank you, farewell and good night m'lady.'  
She smiled, "'til morning then," and she spun around and walked out of sight.

Legolas walked around a little longer and then decided to go outside to the courtyard before going to sleep.  
He was standing in the courtyard looking at the sky when he heard someone nearby. He looked around and there he saw Elizabeth in the distance staring out towards the ford, and he walked over to her, "What is wrong?"

She sighed and sat on the nearby bench, "I'm just worried about Cassy. She just seems so sad and lonely, but she hasn't told me why yet."  
He sat next to her, "Sometimes people have to deal with things themselves before they can find the courage to tell others."

"I know, but I wish I knew what's wrong so that I can help her."

He smiled, "She'll come to you soon. You are her best friend, she cares for you a lot…and so do I."  
She looked at him quickly studying his face. "Really? You do?"  
He nodded. "I care about you too," she said quietly. They smiled and they sat there for a while holding hands and looking at the stars. Elizabeth sang a song of best friends in elvish:

Alas, a time came for us to be apart,

and we went on our separate ways.

This time away from you is evil to the heart.

It is hard for me to know you will not be there to greet me in the morning,

that I can't be there for you with a shoulder for you to cry on when things get rough.

I will miss you, my sister of the heart.

Even if we are not close by, you will always be a sibling to my heart,

and I will always be with you when you need me.

Separated by blood, united with love.

Always the Angel and the Black Dove.

(lyrics inspired by a yearbook entry from one good friend to the next :-) )

Meanwhile, Aragorn was back at the campfire and Cassy had long gone off for some water. Aragorn listened to the sounds around him, the wind blowing through the trees, the crickets chirping, and other noises of the outdoors. He stood up, deciding to go for a walk. He wandered around for a little while before stepping into a clearing, what he saw for a brief second made him gasp slightly. Cassy looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes. "Please don't tell anyone!"


End file.
